MILLERS RESERVES 2011-2012
Back row (left to right): Luke Gale, Dan Culverwell, Allassane Gomis, Dave Kelly, Jordan Cooper, Adam Thompson, Ben Higginbottom, James Kelly, Stefan Nielsen, James Higgins, Dan Wilson
Front row: Daniel Johnson, Jordan Potts, Niall Shelley, Michael Jodrell, Rick Adrio (Manager), James Taylor, Craig Mills (Assistant Manager), Miles Palmer-Williams, Tom Wildgoose, Tom Kanenberg, Alex Adrio
MATCH REPORTS

	NAME
	RICK ADRIO (MANAGER)
	CRAIG MILLS (ASSISTANT MANAGER)
	JAMES TAYLOR
	MICHAEL JODRELL
	DANIEL CULVERWELL
	ADAM THOMPSON
	DANIEL JOHNSON
	BEN HIGGINBOTTOM
	JORDAN COOPER
	STEFAN NIELSEN
	LUKE GALE
	DAVE KELLY
	ALLASANE GOMIS
	TOM KANENBERG
	JAMES KELLY
	NIALL SHELLEY
	MILES PALMER WILLIAMS
	DANIEL WILSON
	ALEX ADRIO

Match Reports     TOP

Sat 24th March - Nelson Reserves 0 Millers Reserves 2
The Millers travelled to Nelson full of confidence after five straight wins in the league and were looking to continue there good form.
The opening exchanges in this game were poor as the ball was being played up in the air on what was a decent pitch to play football on. The Millers started slowly with sloppy passing, poor control and unforced errors happening all over the pitch. That said the Millers still fashioned the best of the few chances made in the first half. The best of those chances falling to Wood who went close on two occasions with stinging drive that the Nelson keeper did well to block at the near post. With thirty minutes on the clock Higginbottom was unlucky to see the best effort of the half blocked after good play down the right from Wood and unselfish lay off from Jodrell created the only clear chance of the half.
The referee Mr Davies allowed several strong tackles to go unpunished by the nelson centre half and this set the tone for the rest of the match. On forty minutes Kelly was introduced into the midfield as Penny went over on his ankle and had to be replaced.
At half time the plea was for patience in possession and to keep the ball on the floor as much as we could in the second half whilst raising the tempo of our play as Nelson began to tire. Although the Millers dominated possession for large periods there was little end product or a lack of a quality when the final pass or cross was being made. Robertson came on for Jodrell on the left and Campbell replaced Wood upfront to freshen up the Millers attack . This saw the Millers have a period of sustained pressure with several corners being forced in succession one of which was met with force by Cooper who was unlucky to see his header come back of the crossbar and be cleared by the Nelson full back. From the next corner created the Millers were awarded a penalty by the referee for a trip on Bancroft in the penalty box , with a shortage of takers from the Millers front men Podmore placed the ball on the spot and steered his kick to the keepers left. Although in the corner the penalty was at a good height for the Nelson stopper and he managed to read the kick and parry it away for what was a decent save.
The Millers continued to press down both flanks and finally got there reward on eighty minutes as Higginbottom won a foul wide on the right , Kay delivered yet another quality centre which evaded everyone and the Nelson keeper and flew into the top left corner of the net for a lead the Millers must have thought was not going to come. This galvanised the Millers for the last ten minutes as they started to move the ball quickly and with far greater accuracy. One such pass from Robertson for Campbell saw him duly dispossess the Nelson the centre half with his first touch then draw the keeper with second and calmly slot the ball under the advancing keeper for his first Millers goal of the season.
This was a hard fought win in a physical contest which saw the Nelson centre half dismissed with only seconds remaining for a needless push on Podmore . The Millers are now learning to win the battles on the pitch aswell as playing there football when the chance presents itself. This will stand the players in good stead for the future and shows they are learning to deal with all aspects of the game .
Team :- Taylor, Culverwell, Cooper, Kay (1), Podmore, Jodrell (C), Adrio, Penny, Higginbottom, Wood, Bancroft . Subs : D Campbell (1), Robertson , Wilson, Shelley, Kelly, Duckworth (GK)
Man of the Match :- Jamie Kay

Sat 17th March - Darwen Reserves 1 Millers Reserves 2
After a good win midweek over Glossop the Millers were looking to continue there good form away against a Darwen side struggling at the lower end of the table.
The Millers again started the game with a quick tempo pressing Darwen back and creating several good situations in the opening exchanges.
Penny played in Bancroft on fifteen minutes he raced clear of the Darwen defence and managed to beat the keeper with the ball rolling just wide of the upright . The chances kept coming for the Millers with Wood being put in by an astute Adrio through ball, this time the keeper palmed away Woods effort straight to the feet of Jodrell who rushed his attempted lob as his effort sailed over the crossbar.
As the frustration grew on the Millers part Darwen created some good play of there own down the left wing, this resulted in a long throw in which the Millers failed to clear there lines properly and fell to the feet of the Darwen right winger. He ran at Robertson and was promptly outmuscled in the challenge that ensued. The referee somehow deemed this shoulder barge worthy of a foul and as it occurred in the Millers penalty box he awarded a penalty which was dispatched with confidence by the Darwen number seven for a one nil lead that was totally against the run of play .
The Millers now trailing continued to play good football with Robertson and Jodrell dominant on the wings providing good service for Wood and Bancroft to feed off.
On Twenty minutes the Millers finally got the reward there good play had merited when Adrio played in Bancroft who burst away from the Darwen backline and this time finished with ease to equalize for the Millers. The pattern of play continued for the rest of the half with Wood having a shot tipped over the bar and slipping at the vital moment after rounding the Darwen keeper. Bancroft and Jodrell then having good efforts saved well by the Darwen stopper.
The message to the players at half time was to keep playing as we had and to keep our concentration at the back so as not to encourage Darwen in any way. Adrio and Penny had now got to grips with the Darwen midfield pair and the Millers dominated large parts of the second half without creating too many clear cut chances to score. On 60 mins the Millers freshened up the attack by bringing on new signing Dave Campbell for Wood his impact was evident as his hold up play and calmness in possession brought on several good passages of play .
Shelley then came on for Robertson on the right wing he burst past the full back and delivered and early cross that the centre half did well to clear for a corner kick. The corner was cleared up field where the ball was picked up by Cooper he played the ball into Adrio's feet he in turn played a quick one two with Campbell and drove at the Darwen backline. The weight of pass from Campbell drew out the Darwen keeper into a fifty, fifty with Adrio which he won, Adrio then managed to keep the ball in play at the goal line and centre for a simple tap in for Bancroft's second of the game and a well deserved lead for the Millers.
With twenty minutes remaining Kelly came on to add some energy to the midfield replacing Adrio , as the Millers looked to see the game out and take all three points. The last ten minutes saw the Millers keep the ball well with Kay and Cooper outstanding at the back making blocks and slide tackles enabling the Millers keep a late Darwen onslaught at bay. This was a hard fought win in a game which the Millers would have drawn or lost last season, the experience the players are getting is now bringing consistency in result as well as performance.
Team - Taylor, Culverwell, Cooper, Kay, Podmore, Jodrell (C), Adrio, Penny, Robertson, Wood (2), Bancroft. Subs : D Campbell, L Campbell, Higginbottom, Shelley, Kelly, Duckworth (GK)
Man of the Match :- Jordan Cooper

Weds 7th March Millers Reserves 3 Glossop 2
The Millers eagerly awaited fixture with closest local rivals Glossop was well worth the wait as in heavy conditions both teams served up some quality football for the local supporters to enjoy.
The Millers started as the week before very quickly and scored with there very first attack of the match. Robertson picked the ball up on half way raced past The Glossop right back and delivered a telling centre which was finished with real style by Wood . This set the tone for the match and the Millers dominated for the opening ten minutes with Wood and Bancroft causing the Glossop defence all sorts of problems with there pace and endeavour for the team.
Glossop started to get a foothold in the match and controlled posession for the following twenty minutes pressing the Millers high up the field and creating several half chances. With 30 mins on the clock Glossop got there equaliser that the continual pressure had deserved. Kay was late into a tackle with Hamilton which saw a free kick awarded on the left hand side of the Millers box , Hamilton shot low and hard along the slippery pitch to force Taylor to save low down to his left with Glossop reacting first to his parry and tapping home at the far post.
The Millers reacted with some good play down both flanks with just the final ball lacking or shot being blocked. Robertson was terrorising the Glossop right back now and developed the play with Podmore down the left which forced a corner. The ball was swung into the busy penalty area and Wood again reacted first to guide his header past the helpless Glossop keeper. The Millers were resilient to the half time whistle as the conditions worsened and went in at half time with a slender 2-1 lead .
The Millers came out and started the second half brightly with Penny and Adrio becoming more dominant in midfield and the back four controlling the Glossop attacks with a far greater ease. The threat of both Shelley and Robertson down both flanks created several good positions and Bancroft went close with a shot from distance and Wood was unlucky to see two good efforts blocked by last ditch defending from the Glossop centre half .
Against the run of play Glossop equalised as a simple ball through the middle of the Millers backline caused confusion between Taylor and Kay , this allowed Hamilton to finish with ease from fifteen yards and draw Glossop level .
With the game entering the final third the Millers introduced Jodrell and Higginbottom into the attack and withdrew Kay and replaced him with Luke Campbell at the heart of the defence. This had the desired effect as the Millers had more energy in attack and forced a corner after good link up between Jodrell and Wood. Jodrell then took the resulting corner and spotted an excellent near post run by Higginbottom and delivered a perfectly waited pass which Higginbottom steered home with a deft volleyed finish which left the Glossop keeper with no chance . The game became stretched in the last fifteen minutes with Glossop counter attacking and crashing a long range shot against the Millers crossbar. The Millers then reacted in kind as Robertson went on another maisy dribble which then finished with an explosive shot which cannoned off the Glossop crossbar and then the rebound was slashed wide .
The Millers defended superbly for the remaining five minutes with Campbell, Cooper ,Wilson and Podmore resolute to the final whistle. A well deserved win in the end as the team are growing in stature and starting to gain the results there hard work has deserved.
Team :- Taylor , Wilson , Cooper (C) , Kay , Podmore , Robertson , Penny , Adrio , Shelley , Bancroft , Wood (2) , Subs:- Higginbottom (1) , Jodrell , Culverwell , L Campbell , D Campbell , Duckworth (GK)
Man of the Match :- Nick Wood

Sat 3rd March Millers Reserves 2 Daisy Hill 1 (league cup)
The Millers reserves were looking to progress in the league cup with the promise of another home tie should they manage to overcome a Daisy Hill team struggling at the lower end of the table. With the manager only to aware of a league game with local rivals Glossop in mid week this was a chance to have a look at some fringe players and also give some game time to players recovering from injury.
Returning to the squad was Reserve team captain Michael Jodrell after nearly five months out with a hamstring tear which will be a big boost for the second half of the season for the Millers. Making there debut for the Millers were central midfielder Zach Penny signed from local rivals Glossop and goalkeeper Jonathan Duckworth who has joined in the last few weeks and is providing competition for the regular reserve keeper James Taylor . There were also home debuts for new strike pair Nick Wood and Sam Bancroft .
The Millers started this game quickly and pressed high up the pitch looking to get on top early in the game and then control it from there.
The quick passing and high tempo saw the Millers create several good situations in wide positions where the final pass or cross was letting down the good approach play that preceded it . Robertson and Higginbottom were causing problems down the flanks and Wood and Bancroft both went close in the early stages with only heroic goalkeeping from the Daisy Hill stopper preventing the Millers getting in front in the first ten minutes . On fifteen mins Penny put Bancroft in the clear, he raced away from the defence and faced with the simple task of slotting the ball home somehow managed to drag his effort wide of the upright. Several chances came Bancroft's way after that with the best a left foot effort from six yards that somehow managed to drift wide with the goal gaping. The relentless work ethic of Wood was causing the Daisy Hill defenders continual problems and Bancroft put through again by Wood this time kept his cool to stroke the ball into the corner to give the Millers a largely deserved lead. More chances came the Millers way with a fine run and shot curled narrowly wide from Robertson and then a superb cross from Robertson wide on the left saw Penny force the Daisy Hill keeper into a fine fingertip save.
The Millers were then caught with a sucker punch as slack defending resulted in a corner for Daisy Hill for which Podmore won the first ball, the second ball dropped on the penalty spot with Daisy Hill reacting first and equalising with there only on target shot of the half . The millers continued to attack down both flanks until half time looking to regain the lead with Podmore and Robertson on the left and Culverwell and Higginbottom on the right both creating good crossing situations where the final pass or finishing touch was frustratingly lacking. The Millers were told to start the second half as they had the first at a high tempo with quick passing and get the ball wide as quickly as possible and deliver telling crosses for Wood and Bancroft to get on the end of. With Penny and Kay bossing the centre of the park and Wood working tirelessly for the team the Millers quickly regained the lead.
Wood dropped deep to pick up possession and waiting for the run of Higginbottom played the ball perfectly into his stride Higginbottom without breaking stride he delivered accurately to the back post where Bancroft was on hand to steer home his second of the game.
Particular satisfaction for the Reserves coach Craig mills as the Millers had regained the lead with a training ground goal. This time there were no lapses in concentration at the back as captain Jordan Cooper marshalled the defence with authority . Kay and penny were providing the link between defence and attack ,the Millers controlled the rest of the game and saw several good saves from the Daisy Hill keeper the highlights of these chances were a header from Culverwell which looked destined for the top corner until the Daisy stopper sprung through the air to catch at the last opportunity. Also when clean through with only the keeper to beat Wood placed his shot with the keeper palming away his effort denying him of a goal his performance had more than merited. Subs were introduced to freshen the attack up with Jodrell and Nielsen both forcing saves from the over worked Daisy Hill keeper. The Millers saw the game out and will now face Silsden at home In the next round .
Team :- Duckworth , Culverwell ,Campbell ,Cooper (c), Podmore, Robertson , Penny, Kay, Higginbottom ,wood , Bancroft . Subs:- Jodrell , Nielsen , Palmer Williams, Kanenberg ,Turner.
Man of the match :- Zach Penny

Sat 25th Feb - Millers Reserves 2 Ashton town 0
After six weeks without playing due the weather the Millers took to the field with several new faces in there starting eleven .
The additions of Sam Bancroft from Glossop and Nick Wood from Furness Vale saw a new look strike force start the game. Along with the return of Luke Podmore after six months away from the game making his return .
The Millers faced in Ashton town a team that the previous week had beaten glossop .
The Ashton first team under new management meant several first team players were dropped down for this game which meant a physical game was on the cards.
The millers started brightly and the new pairing of Wood and Bancroft were causing problems for the Ashton defence from the outset. After several good attacks down. Both flanks the millers won a free kick out on the right wing with Shelley being upended. Kay delivered a quality ball which evaded everybody and the Ashton keeper with Nielsen on hand to tap home at the back post to give the millers a fifth minute lead.
The Millers dominated for the next ten minutes keeping good possession with Adrio and Kelly winning the midfield battle and Cooper and Kay dealing easily with the Ashton long ball threat . A second goal followed on ten minutes as Nielsen and Podmore combined well down the left to keep possession slick passing by Kelly and then adrio saw the ball fed to Wilson ,he fed the ball into Shelley and went for the return and played it first time into the box where Wood found space and glanced into the goal from ten yards for a debut goal . The millers were dominating like they were the home team for the rest of the half with excellent through balls from Kelly and Adrio for The continual good movement of Bancroft and Wood seeing the millers go close to a third on several occasions before the half time whistle blew .
The second half was as solid a defensive shape as the millers have had all season with good organisation and communication the Millers rarely looked troubled throughout the half with Cooper, captain for the day looking assured with Kay and Taylor in goal organising the back line the millers sat back and hit Ashton on the break.
On one such occasion a clever through ball by Adrio found Nielsen running free on goal his lob unluckily clipping the underside of the crossbar for a goal his efforts merited .
On 70 mins the millers brought on fresh legs with Higginbottom replacing Shelley on the right and new signing David Campbell coming on upfront for Bancroft . This gave a new impetus to the attack which saw Kelly play Wood into the right hand channel and his first time cross was met by Campbell who placed narrowly wide for what would have been another debut goal .
Millers last sub was to replace Nielsen who was tiring with Campbell coming on at centre half and Kay moving to left back with Podmore nullifying the threat from the Ashton right winger to help close out the game . This had the desired effect as New Mills came away with a clean sheet and well deserved win.
Team :- Taylor ,Wilson , Cooper (C), Kay, Podmore ,Nielsen (1), Adrio, Kelly, Shelley , Wood(1) , Bancroft . Subs : D Campbell ,L Campbell ,Higginbottom ,Duckworth gk .
Man of the match Alex Adrio

Pre Season Friendly
West Didsbury & Chorlton 2 - 0 New Mills res
New Mills Res 2nd pre-season game saw them travel to west didsbury and Chorlton, with the floodlights not yet commissioned the start was pushed forward to 19:15.
Again this was to be a tough test the home side being an experienced, established, team, West Didsbury have just been granted permission to join the VodCat 1st division, this was going to be a good opportunity for Rick Adrios players to get some valuable minutes on the pitch. Some good news saw Craig Mills join the team as Ricks right hand man and coach.
Away from 3G and on a much wider pitch, this allowed the ressies to start with some neat passing around the back, new mills failed to make the early possession pay, the home side started to apply pressure playing in down the right flank.
With good shape and communication from the back the home side struggled to find a way through, Williams playing at right back was caught in a challenge and was replaced by Culverwell.
The home team again started applying pressure, playing a long diagonal ball from right to left, allowing the forward to attempt a cross, unfortunately this struck the hand of Thompson and the ref didn’t hesitate in giving the penalty. The millers were unlucky after the spot kick was saved, the rebound was followed up, 1-0 West Didsbury & Chorlton.
Millers kicked off and began to grow in confidence, however despite some nice passages of play there was little to show up front, eventually the Millers front men clicked after Firjani received the ball he skipped through 2 challenges and fired just wide, Millers took control of the final 15 minutes and the home side looked to be tiring. half time 1-0.
The gaffers half time team talk was positive, we were holding a good shape and were protecting the ball well, we just needed to speed it up In the final 3rd... familiar words of advice from Ads .... “don’t take 4 touches when 2 will do”.
Several changes for the 2nd half once again saw several youth team players and trialists given an opportunity to show what they could do.
New Mills kicked off and began to spread the ball about, the home side again replied by applying pressure by playing long diagonal balls through the back, however again the defence’s shape was well organised, half time sub Fred Barlow was looking composed and linked in well with Campbell, the home side were having more of the ball in the 2nd half, however several well timed challenges in the box from Campbell and Culverwell denied a 2nd goal, James Kelly was pushed out to the right and linked in well with Culverwell, Another long ball from the home team saw Campbell make another outstanding challenge, however from the resulting corner the young millers switched off, the ball was flicked on and headed home at the far post 2-0.
This was another good run out for the boys, some positive performances against a good strong team, with the 2nd pre-season game over the Ressies are looking stronger and playing some good football. Next up away to Curzon Ashton.
Starting line up:
James Taylor, Robbie Williams, Adam Thompson, Jordan Cooper, Luke Campbell, Stefan Nielson, Michael Jodrell, Daniel Johnson, Ben Higginbottom, Khalid Firjani, Ross Needham
Subs: Dan Culverwell, Fred Barlow, Gomez, James Kelly, David Broadbent, Clarence Samba, George-G-Smith, Jack Benson, Jason White.